-The Hindu To bridge the gap in development between the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and non-SCs and STs, a coalition of more than 150 organisations is demanding a national law to prevent, once and for all, the diversion, non-release, non-implementation and lapsing of the Special Component Plans for SCs/STs. In response to the coalition's longstanding demands, the National Advisory Council's guidance and the letter Sonia Gandhi wrote to the Prime Minister...

-The Hindu Imphal: Rashida Manjoo, U.N. Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, broke down and wept for a few minutes uncontrollably on Sunday during a consultative meeting here. It was attended by about 200 human rights defenders, families of victims and civil society organisations. The frail mother of Manorama Thangjam, who was arrested, raped and shot dead allegedly by some personnel of 17 Assam Rifles on July...

-Bloomberg   In all likelihood, Nandan Nilekani's Aadhaar will lead the world. Exactly where it will lead, we'll find out People who grew up in Britain in the 1960s will remember a television programme that built a cult following: The Prisoner. It was about an oddly luxurious detention camp-a kind of Guantanamo Bay by Four Seasons, spa services and brainwashing included. Even if you wanted to, trying to escape was pointless. A...

-Live Mint Government reaches near consensus as BJP agrees to support Bill in Parliament; industry not enthused by plan The government may be close to pulling off one of India's most significant policy changes with a near consensus among political parties on a new land acquisition law, taking the country to the verge of removing what's perceived as the biggest impediment to the next wave of industrialization. At the conclusion of an all-party...

-The Times of India The Supreme Court on Thursday lifted the omnibus ban on iron ore mines in Bellary, Chitradurga and Tumkur districts of Karnataka and permitted 81 lease owners, who had committed minor violations, to resume mining after compliance of stringent conditions laid down by the courts. Moving forward from its reference to illegal mining activity for decades under active political patronage as "a shocking state of depredation of nature's bounty...